Steven Matz started for the Mets last night and did not find nearly the same success he found in his last two outings.
In the second inning, Matz allowed Devin Marrero to hit a one-out double that he a later scored on by way of an RBI single by John Ryan Murphy.
After being given a 2-1 lead from a Michael Conforto two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, Matz pitched a clean third.
However, in the fourth, Matz struggled again, as he allowed a leadoff homer to Paul Goldschmidt.
Later in the inning with two outs, Jarrod Dyson got on base via a walk and stole second, despite a Mets challenge that was upheld. Matz then allowed a two-run homer to John Ryan Murphy to give the Diamondbacks a 4-2 lead.
Mickey Callaway did not think the stolen base affected Matz too much though when asked about it after the game.
“No, I think that guys are obviously are going to be emotional at times. What I did see after he snatched that ball, was that he went into that routine to reset himself and that’s what we’re paying attention to the most. So I don’t really think it was about that. I think it was probably more about poor pitch selection and execution to the eight-hole hitter a couple of times.”
After 79 pitches, Callaway decided to pull Matz from the game after the fourth inning with a line that included four runs, six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
Seth Lugo came into the game and replaced him. Lugo, along with Paul Sewald, AJ Ramos, and Jeurys Familia, combined to give the Mets five scoreless innings of relief which allowed the Mets to stage a comeback and win 5-4.
Matz has been shaky so far this season with a 1-3 record, 4.42 ERA, and 1.31 WHIP to go along with 36 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings (eight starts) of work. The 26-year old left-hander has only pitched six innings once this season, so the Mets will certainly hope to get some more length from him.
